A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward—I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing's to
do,”
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
45
To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me.
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
50
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
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When honor's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father killed, a mother stained,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep—while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
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That for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? Oh, from this time forth,
65
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
that comes from thinking too much (thinking thoughts that are one
part wisdom, three parts cowardice), I don't know why
I'm still alive to say “I have to do this
deed” rather than having done it already. I have the
motivation, the willpower, the ability, and the means to do it.
It's as plain as the ground beneath my feet that I must
do it. Look at this massive army led by a delicate and tender prince
who's so puffed up with divine ambition that he puts his
fragile life at risk, exposing it to danger and death, for a reason
as thin as an eggshell. To be truly great doesn't mean
you'd only fight for a good reason. It means
you'd fight over nothing if your honor was at stake. So
where does that leave me, whose father has been murdered and mother
defiled, ignoring these mental and emotional provocations and
letting well enough alone? Meanwhile, to my shame, I watch twenty
thousand men go marching to their deaths for an illusion and a
little bit of fame, fighting for a tiny piece of land not even big
enough to bury them all. From now on, if my thoughts
aren't violent I'll consider them
worthless.
